


None of My Rules Apply

by earlymorningechoes



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Collegestuck, F/F, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 09:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3170363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlymorningechoes/pseuds/earlymorningechoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and Kanaya are both attempting NaNoWriMo, and they meet by chance at a write-in on their college campus. No one expects the romance that blossoms between the two, who seem so different at first glance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: October 31, 2014

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DragonBandit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonBandit/gifts).



Your name is ROSE LALONDE, and you are holed up in the library, exactly the same as most Friday nights. The library is extremely quiet on Friday nights, and it is quite possibly the best time of the week to do work without someone attempting to distract you.

But today you are not working on schoolwork. You are finishing the planning for your latest entry into National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, and the myriad of notes scattered around you is not related to psychology (or at least, not directly), but rather to the ins and outs of your imagined wizarding society.

The clickety-clack of your laptop keys cuts through the mostly-empty library, broken only by the swoosh of flipping paper as you rummage through your notes or the boy across the hall reaches the end of a page. A smile plays across your face: you are almost ready for November, with your goal of 1,667 words per day, and you are going to win this time. Again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your name is KANAYA MARYAM, and you are glaring at your closed bedroom door. Or, more specifically, at the loud music blaring from outside of it that you are unable to ignore. It is Halloween Night, and you did tell your roommates they could have some friends over, and they did ask if the music was bothering you…but you’re still going to be annoyed about it.

Sliding your headphones back over your ears, you try and focus on the sea of words spread out across your laptop screen. Vampires, vampires, always vampires. You’ve tried this NaNoWriMo thing twice before and never won. But this time you planned, and you have an outline of where your story is supposed to go, and you’re going to attend at least one write-in a week.

Now, if only that were enough to calm the anxiety growing in the pit of your stomach as you watch the clock in the bottom of your screen flip over to 11:37pm. You’ve been so excited for November for a while, but now that it’s almost here, you want nothing more than to turn back the clock a bit.

You grimace at the screen one more time before closing your laptop. You’re going to make it, one way or another. Again.


	2. Week 1: November 1, 2014

Kanaya hurried along the secluded pathway to the campus coffee shop, glancing at her watch. She knew the scheduled write-ins weren’t the kind of event where you had to show up on time, but being late still made her nervous. With her laptop in her backpack bumping against her as she slowed to a stop outside the door, she fiddled with a tube of lipstick in her pocket, trying to calm her breathing down before entering.

She’d never been in the coffee shop when it was this crowded – there was at least one person at every table, which was nearly enough to make her turn right back around and leave. It wasn’t loud at all, because most of the people there appeared to be either studying or there for the write-in, but still.

Balling her hands into fists, Kanaya wended her way between the tables, pushing towards the end of the room opposite the hustle and bustle of the order counter. The table in the corner has only one occupant, thankfully, a brown-skinned girl with a purple headband pulling back her red hair. Her head was tilted downwards toward her open laptop, but she looked up when Kanaya cleared her throat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose groaned inwardly as she realized the girl standing next to her was trying to get her attention, but as she looked up, she was slightly taken aback by how well the girl’s black hoodie set off her olive skin and her miniskirt accentuated her long legs. Forcing herself to make eye contact with the sudden distraction, Rose asked shortly, “May I help you?”

The incomer cleared her throat again before speaking. “May I sit with you? There aren’t many spaces open, and I’ll try not to bother you…” she trailed off as Rose nodded, and she slid into the chair opposite. Rose tilted her head back towards her laptop, ostensibly going back to her own work, but she kept finding herself sneaking glances back at her new table partner, and eventually integrating the attractive girl into her prewriting exercise. Describing the girl and creating a character around her without even knowing her name was a step up from Rose’s usual people-watching, but the other girl seemed to have become quite absorbed in her own story and hadn’t noticed Rose’s peeks in her direction increasing in frequency. Hopefully.

Sometime later, Rose closed the screen of her laptop and stretched, wiggling her fingers to re-acclimate them to not typing and shaking her hair out of her face, readjusting her headband. The other girl looked up and gave a little smile before flicking her eyes back to her own computer. Sliding her laptop into her backpack and pulling her jacket on, Rose hesitated for a moment before leaving.

“My name’s Rose,” she said, in a quieter voice than she was expecting, “Rose Lalonde.” Still unsure of why she was saying so, she waited as the other girl raised her head again and bit her lip.

“I’m Kanaya Maryam,” she replied. “Nice to meet you.” A few beats of silence passed, not uncomfortable, as each girl processed the information she’d just been given. Threading her fingers through the loose end of her backpack strap, Rose stepped past Kanaya’s chair.

“Nice to meet you, too. Good luck,” she said, leaving the coffee shop without another backward glance. She didn’t notice that Kanaya turned in her seat to watch her go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later – Monday – Rose found herself drawn towards the coffee shop instead of the library after class. Knowing that she would not be quite happy with herself for trading valuable studying time for a happenstance chance at seeing the girl from Saturday, she followed the out-of-the-way path anyways, winding past her dorm building from freshman year and slipping quietly through the door of the shop. The big, open room was much less crowded than it had been over the weekend, with multiple tables open. Low, lilting music played quietly over the speakers, and Rose suddenly wondered why she’d never chosen to study here instead of in the library, regardless of whether or not she’d be able to see Kanaya again.

Surveying the occupied tables and trying to remind herself it was unlikely the object of her search would be in the room, she was nevertheless disappointed when no olive-skinned, black-haired, miniskirt-clad girl appeared. She turned slightly back to the door, trying to decide if she should head for the library as originally planned, or stay in the newly-found study space of the coffee shop. The decision flew out of her head for a moment, though, as she bumped hard into a figure slightly taller than her own. Stepping back, she found herself looking into Kanaya’s surprised face.

“Rose!” she said suddenly. Rose tried to keep herself from thinking that she’d noticed a hopeful glint in Kanaya’s eyes, giving the other girl a small smile.

“Hi, Kanaya,” she answered. “Are you coming in to write?” Kanaya nodded, shrugging her shoulders to draw attention to her backpack and presumably her laptop. She scanned the half-empty room, her eyes resting on the table they’d shared over the weekend.

“Would you like to sit with me?” she asked slowly, looking off over Rose’s shoulder while waiting for the answer. When Rose nodded, Kanaya’s eyes lit up as she grinned, and Rose’s smile widened in response. Both girls moved together over to their old table, settling in the same seats they’d used before. Neither spoke, but both continued to smile as they got started on their respective stories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

By Thursday, Kanaya was ready to pretend she’d gotten up the courage to ask Rose for her phone number. If she could pretend she had it at home, maybe she’d actually be able to ask the question in person.

Now she just had to hope the redhead would be showing up at this week’s write-in. She had two whole days to wait, which were far more distracting than most waiting periods she’d experienced before – she completely forgot to turn in a pile of library books, which prompted a form email from the librarian and a dizzy rush to get back to campus before the six pm closing time.

Saturday morning, Kanaya woke up at eight-thirty, already anxiously waiting for noon and the start of the write-in. She stumbled around the apartment in a slight daze, accidentally dropping her makeup case and waking one of her roommates, before finally getting herself into what she deemed a presentable state and packing her laptop into her bag. Said awoken roommate watched from the kitchen table, grinning an unreadable grin as Kanaya scurried out the door.

Ten minutes later, she was sliding into the now-familiar seat next to Rose at their secluded back table, giving the shorter girl a head nod and a smile. Rose returned the gestures before turning back to her laptop, ready to continue their comfortable silence, but her head popped back up as Kanaya cleared her throat.

“Would you be comfortable giving me your phone number?” she asked in a rush, stumbling over her words but unable to slow down. Rose’s usually unreadable smile warmed slightly, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she pulled something from her pocket and slid it across the table.

“I was also going to ask you for yours,” she answered, tapping her fingers on the table as Kanaya picked up the slip of paper and reached for her phone. As she did, the phone jangled a jaunty text alert, causing her to jump before reading the message.

“Oh, my roommate’s coming down,” she said, returning to entering Rose’s number in her phone. Before she’d even finished, though, the bells above the door jingled. A familiar head clad in a lime-green headscarf popped up next to Kanaya’s chair.

“Wait, Rose?” bubbled the newcomer, stepping around the table. “I didn’t know you two knew each other!” She reached her arms out to Rose, who stood up and gave her a hug.

“Hi, Jade,” she answered. “I didn’t realize you and Kanaya were roommates.” The girl called Jade nodded enthusiastically.

“Yup! Kanaya, I bet you didn’t know that Rose was my freshman roommate!” she said. Kanaya shook her head, smiling at Jade’s energy despite her sudden jealousy at the hug Rose had received. A moment later she noticed the person lingering behind Jade.

“Hi, Karkat,” Kanaya told him, before turning and quickly introducing him to Rose. It was as if the introduction had been his cue to talk – he was immediately having one of his customary loud conversations with Jade as she rolled her eyes and tried to pretend he wasn’t her best friend. As the two of them moved off to the order counter, Kanaya turned back to Rose, who raised her eyebrows in Karkat’s direction.  
“That one is an interesting character,” she said slowly.


	3. Week 2: November 9, 2014

Rose couldn’t believe she’d been texting this girl so much. Her brother and her cousins had always been the only people she’d ever text, generally nothing more personal than “we’re out of toilet paper, buy some or I’ll hide your headphones” (or wizard paraphernalia, if it’s Roxy), the downsides of living with family members.

But first thing in the morning she would check her phone for texts from Kanaya, and sit on pins and needles waiting to hear back or to find out when they’d be meeting up again.

When Kanaya eventually texted her to say that she and her roommates (Jade and another girl, Calliope) were hosting a games night/party-type-thing on Friday night and would Rose like to come, Rose nearly fell out of her chair, which apparently required exaggerated eye-rolls from both Dave and Dirk. Quickly typing back, she said yes, of course, she would be there…wait, where did Kanaya live again?

Neither girl was able to make it to the coffee shop for most of the week, but they started keeping one another updated on the progress of their novels (Rose was ahead, Kanaya behind), and on Thursday morning they bumped into one another on their way to their respective classes. Clarifying that they’d see one another the next night at the games night party, they parted ways, and Rose didn’t notice that Kanaya’s eyes followed her until she had passed behind the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday night, Kanaya was running all over her tiny apartment, making sure everything was perfect and in place for the party. Jade and their third roommate, Calliope, both sat on the couch, each with a glass of her preferred alcohol, alternately rolling their eyes and giggling at Kanaya’s antics. A knock at the door caused all three to jump, then burst into laughter as Jade jumped up to let their visitors in. Karkat and his girlfriend Terezi came through the door, taking up their customary places on the floor. Terezi set an Apples to Apples box on the coffee table, talking excitedly.

“They made a braille version! It’s got the words written in English and in braille so I can play without Karkat having to read me my cards and I am so going to beat all of you!” Calliope leaned over and opened the box, rubbing one of the cards against her fingers with a smile.

Another knock sounded, followed by Terezi shouting, “Vriska!” as Kanaya opened the door. The girl’s black-and-blue hair fluttered over her shoulders as she plopped down next to Terezi, saying hello to the others. Before Kanaya could close the door, however, she heard her name echo down the hallway and realized Rose was coming towards her.

“Hi, Rose,” she said. “Come on in.” The two girls walked through the door together, and the congregation of people in the living room all looked up at them expectantly. For her part, Rose looked calm and collected, her black skirt swishing slightly against her knees as she stood.

“Uh, Rose, these are some friends of mine,” Kanaya began, pointing at each in turn. “You’ve met Jade and Karkat, obviously, and Calliope is my other roommate. This is Terezi, Karkat’s girlfriend, and Vriska.” Each person waved slightly as their name was said, and then Terezi grabbed the game box.

“Now that everyone’s here, we’re going to play!” she cried, causing still more laughter. Everyone settled onto the floor in a circle as Terezi pulled out the game, getting everything set up and ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose found herself surprisingly relaxed as the night wore on. Kanaya’s friends seemed to like her, especially Vriska, who she seemed to have a lot of interests in common with. After the Apples to Apples game, everyone had moved to a game on someone’s Wii U, something called NintendoLand. Tucked away on a corner of the couch, watching instead of playing, Rose entertained herself by dissecting the relationship dynamics between everyone in the room. Shy Calliope was familiar (she looked a bit older, possibly a friend of Roxy’s that Rose had met in passing before), and she seemed most comfortable talking to Kanaya and Jade. Jade and Terezi were both holding multiple conversations at once, talking to everyone about everything. Vriska had a tendency to pull out insults more often than not, causing multiple people to glare at her, with Kanaya and Terezi defusing the situation in practiced strokes.

Eventually Kanaya came to join Rose on the couch, giving the shorter girl a half-smile but not saying anything. They sat quietly for a few minutes, still watching the game on the screen and laughing along. Slowly, Kanaya slid her hand across the couch, finally letting it rest next to Rose’s. After a bit, Rose slowly moved her hand as well, closing the gap and placing it on top of Kanaya’s. Small but brilliant smiles fell across both their faces, a quiet moment behind the hubbub of their friends.

When Terezi won unexpectedly from following Karkat’s shouted directions, he surprised her with a kiss, causing her red sunglasses to fall off. The others clustered around them cheered, and in the slight chaos following, Kanaya grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her out onto the apartment’s very small balcony. Surprised, Rose followed her into the cool night, and they stood facing one another with the sounds from inside muffled.

After a moment, Kanaya leaned forward and pressed her lips against Rose’s, unexpectedly soft and chapped and warm. The next few seconds felt like hours, as her head spun with how much she didn’t want the kiss to end. But end it did, and Kanaya found herself gripping Rose’s hand as the shorter girl stared up at her with saucer-wide violet eyes.

“Uh…uh…” she stammered. “I, uh, have to go.” Speeding through the living room to grab her backpack, Rose was gone from the apartment before Kanaya had even really realized she was alone on the balcony. The others, still in the midst of their game and celebrations, didn’t really notice what had happened – except for Jade and Vriska, who both looked out at Kanaya, figuring out her dejected face and joining her outside to lend her silent comfort.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose slept in the next morning, a rare occurrence, and couldn’t quite bring herself to check her phone when she did finally wake up. By the time she did, the lock screen was cluttered with a great many text message notifications. Despite the jumble of messages waiting for her attention and the sounds of her brother and cousins outside her bedroom, Rose had eyes for only one thing: two small words prefaced by Kanaya’s name. “I’m sorry.”

Trying to push down the bundle of emotions caught in her stomach and her throat, Rose shoved her phone under her pillow and headed into the kitchen, where Dave and Dirk both immediately asked her where their headphones were. The text from Kanaya was momentarily pushed from her mind as she went about her Saturday-morning routine, keeping herself busy to avoid the confusing swirl of thoughts she wasn’t ready to deal with.


	4. Week 3: November 17, 2014

By Monday, Kanaya was constantly on edge. Two full days without a text from Rose had her stomach constantly in knots, and she was unable to focus and extremely irritable. Jade and Calliope had taken to spending more time avoiding their angry roommate than usual, and for once they were glad for Monday morning and the distraction of classes to get them away from Kanaya’s temper. Calliope scurried off to anthropology and Jade to biology as Kanaya banged around the kitchen, gasping audibly when her phone buzzed loudly on the table.

Her heart sank into the swirling pit of her stomach as she read the message prefixed by Rose’s name. “We need to talk.” Dropping into her chair at the table, Kanaya fiddled with the edge of her shirt as she stared at her phone, unsure of how to respond.

About an hour later, after working out the details of meeting up with Rose outside the library in the afternoon, Kanaya headed dejectedly to class, her heavy heart weighing her down more than her overstuffed backpack. She continued to space out for most of the lesson, going through the motions of school on autopilot. Staying on campus after class to wait for Rose, she avoided the library until just before their agreed meeting time. As she walked up the brick-laid walkway, she realized Rose was already sitting on a bench, her knees pulled up with her arms wrapped around them. Kanaya’s heart gave another uncomfortable squeeze as she sat down beside the redhead, fiddling again with her shirt hem and sleeves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neither girl said anything for several minutes, each more comfortable in silence than in voicing their thoughts. Eventually, however, Kanaya said again what had been on her mind all weekend. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, looking out of the corner of her eye for Rose’s reaction.

Rose’s shoulders tightened briefly but then relaxed, and she turned her head towards Kanaya, who slowly met her eyes. “I know,” she responded softly. “But I…I need to explain myself.”

Kanaya waited impatiently as Rose took a deep breath before speaking again. “I did not leave because I was upset, or angry with you, or anything like that. I left because…” her voice trailed off into silence again, the only sounds around them the echo of birds singing in the trees and the steady hum of voices from the main walkway.

“I left because I have no idea how to deal with the way I’m feeling. I am not gay, or at least I thought I was not, but you…” she got quiet again, and Kanaya was sure she must be able to hear her heart pounding. “You make me feel something I have never felt before,” she finished in a rush.

Again, neither spoke, Kanaya’s head spinning and Rose’s head pressed against her knees as she tried to curl into a ball on the uncomfortable bench. Her hands fluttered against the bench, a rhythmic tapping eventually worming its way into the movements. Long minutes passed as both girls tried to steady their thoughts before Kanaya was able to speak again.

“All of that is okay,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “It’s okay to not know, and it is okay to be confused. What was not okay was my being much too forward, and I apologize. I just hope…I just hope we can still be friends.” She stood up, sliding her backpack over her shoulder and turning around one last time. “I’m sorry, Rose. I hope you’re okay.”

Before she’d gotten more than a few steps away, Rose’s voice, also shaking, called her back. “Please, Kanaya, just wait a minute.” Kanaya turned sharply on her heel, reaching her hand out slowly so Rose could say no if she wanted and eventually placing it on the redhead’s shoulder. She sat back down without moving her hand, waiting until Rose uncurled herself from the ball she’d ended up in.

“Would you like to go to the coffee shop?” she asked uncertainly, surprising even herself with the desire not to be alone. Kanaya nodded mutely, and both girls picked up their bags and walked off, still in silence but obviously much less tense and anxious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two girls resumed texting, but much less often than before the party, and they didn’t see one another again until the following Saturday and the coffee shop’s weekly write-in. They didn’t talk much, as per usual, and both were frantically flipping through different notebooks, notes on phones, and computer documents as they started to realize they only had a week left to reach the 50,000-word goal. Rose was much less concerned than Kanaya, as her writing pace had been extremely steady throughout the month. Kanaya’s had instead been more unpredictable, and while she did have a respectable number of words, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to finish in time.

When the scheduled write-in time ended, Rose left for dinner with her brother and her cousins, while Kanaya stayed behind to keep working in the relative peace of the coffee shop. In a repeat of the first day they met, Kanaya turned in her chair to watch the redhead leave.


	5. Week 4: November 24, 2014

The last week of November began for Rose with a midterm, and afterwards she texted Kanaya a keysmash of random letters that left a huge grin on Kanaya’s face, even though she empathized with Rose’s weariness. They continued to text for a bit, sharing exam horror stories, before each trailed off to work on schoolwork or on her novel.

Rose remained holed up in her room all evening, and after a while her cousin Roxy barged through the door, flopping onto Rose’s bed and looking at the younger girl expectantly. Her head upside-down because she’d landed on her back, she asked, “So who is she?” Rose visibly stiffened, slowly setting her pen down and turning in her chair.

“Who is who?” she asked, speaking even more formally than usual, as she often did when stressed. Roxy rolled her eyes, righting herself and grabbing a pillow off of Rose’s bed to hug.

“Kanaya,” she said, in a ‘no duh’ voice she had perfected over the years. “You’ve been talking nonstop about her. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk so much about one person.” She gave Rose another expectant look, waiting for her to answer.

“Oh, Kanaya…a friend, from the writing group I started going to on Saturdays,” she said, turning back around and hoping Roxy didn’t catch the blush tinging her cheeks. No such luck – she moved to stand next to Rose, waiting until she looked up again.

“Just tell her, okay?” Roxy said, hushing Rose’s protest with a wave of her hand. “I don’t need to know what’s going on, just tell her what you’re thinking.” And just as quickly as she had come in, she left again, leaving Rose sitting stunned in her desk chair, a million thoughts racing across her brain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~  
At the end of the week, Kanaya received another text from Rose that caused her heart to drop, asking to meet again outside the library. After setting everything up, Kanaya began to pace around the living room while she waited to leave, a habit she had picked up from Calliope. When it came time to go, she hurried out of the apartment, nearly forgetting her keys.

Rose was already sitting on their customary bench, not curled into a ball this time but still tapping rhythmic patterns on her knees. She started to speak almost before Kanaya had even reached her.

“Would you like to go out on a date with me?” she asked in a rush, her usually slow and careful speech overshadowed by the emotion in her voice. Kanaya stopped dead in her tracks, reeling from what she’d just been asked.

“Uh, uh…um…” she stuttered, unable to make her mouth form proper words. Rose looked at her plaintively, expecting Kanaya’s answer. While she waited for her speech abilities to come back, she nodded vigorously, not wanting to make Rose wait any longer. When finally able to produce full words, she answered slowly.

“Yes, yes I do want to go out with you, but…are you sure this is a good idea? Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked, coming to sit beside the redhead on the bench, their hands touching. Rose wrapped her fingers around Kanaya’s, black pressed to olive, and nodded.

“No, I am not sure if this is a good idea, and that is scaring me,” she began, “but I am willing to take that risk. I think…I think that I want this, Kanaya. I want to try.”

Falling into silence again, each took a few long minutes to process her thoughts, their hands clasped together comfortingly. Eventually Rose spoke up again.

“Kanaya…do you think I could kiss you again?” she asked quietly, not meeting Kanaya’s eyes. The taller girl reacted visibly, twisting on the bench so she was facing Rose full-on and pulling the other girl to face her.

“Rose?” she asked simply, feeling as if she were holding a bubble she didn’t want to pop. Leaning forward abruptly, Rose pressed her lips to Kanaya’s, in an obvious reversal of two weeks earlier. Almost before Kanaya could register what was happening, Rose had already broken the kiss and was sitting back with a smile teasing across her face.

“Yes, Kanaya, I want to kiss you,” she said, and leaned in again.


End file.
